


Connections Across the Multiverse: Scars

by DarkCh1ld



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angel Healing, Angel Wings, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Scars, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26741806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkCh1ld/pseuds/DarkCh1ld
Summary: Kazimierz accidentally pulls Jesse and Ethan—fresh off a mission—to their universe while trying to restore his wings to their natural state. They’re stuck with them until Kazimierz can get help to send them back. Meanwhile, Jon addresses a major problem.
Relationships: Ethan Albert/Jesse Brayden Lancaster, Kazimierz & Hanna, Kazimierz/Jon Cruz, Original Male Character/Original Male Character, Xantham McKay/Lionel Cruz





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> UNFINISHED (as usual)
> 
> Features characters from two unfinished stories/series’ that will eventually be posted. Updated/edited very irregularly (I’m sorry >_<‘). Currently unrated as I’m not 100% sure which direction (smut, fluff, or both) this is going.
> 
> Quick notes:  
> Kazimierz - angel, current vessel early 30s, Jon’s lover, Xantham’s guardian  
> Jon - cop, mid-30s, Kaz’s lover, Lionel’s older brother  
> Lionel - private detective, early 30s, Xantham’s boyfriend, Jon’s younger brother  
> Xantham - former assassin, late 20s, Lionel’s boyfriend, Kaz’s ward  
> Jesse - doctor, early 30s, Ethan’s partner  
> Ethan - fighter, mid-20s, Jesse’s partner

"Shit, shit, shit..."

The whispered expletives coming from behind the door immediately set Jon on edge as he approached the bedroom. Kazimierz had been in there for nearly an hour now. Xantham had paused the video game Lionel was teaching him to play when he'd noticed that the angel hadn't joined them as he usually did.

"Kaz? You okay in there?" Jon asked, knocking on the door out of courtesy. The answer he received was stilted and pitchy.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good! I'll be out in a minute!"

That did not sound at all convincing. Jon frowned, reaching for the doorknob and turning it. "Kazimierz, seriously."

" _No_ , don't!"

Just as Jon had opened the door enough to catch a glimpse of Kazimierz sitting on the bed with his wings out, there was a blinding flash of light and a loud pop. Blinking the spots from his eyes, Jon shook his head and shoved the door all the way open, "What the _hell_ , Kaz? What was that?"

Kazimierz stared wide-eyed at him, frozen in a half-crouch off the bed. His wings were no longer visible, but his shirt was on the floor where he had apparently shucked it. There was still a faint glow of his power fading from his skin. Jon couldn't tell what the expression on his face was supposed to be, but it looked a lot like _guilt_.

"Kaz, what were you doing?" Jon inquired as he stepped into the room. His confusion and irritation only grew when Kazimierz looked down at the floor, biting the inside of his cheek. " _Kazimierz._ What were you doing? What was that light?"

"I-It was nothing. I was just...um, playing around with my powers a bit, and you startled me. That's all."

Kazimierz grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head. Jon watched the thick, gnarled scars shift over his shoulder blades, eyes narrowing. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, there was a yelp and a crash from the living room.

"We're not done talking, Kaz," he shot over his shoulder as he turned on his heel, heading for the source of the noise. "You're _going_ to tell me the truth."

Turned as he was, he didn't see the pained grimace that crossed the angel's face.

Jon's confusion only increased when he got to the living room. Lionel was rolling to his feet from where he'd presumably fallen over the back of the couch. Xantham perched on the loveseat's arm, poised and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Jon realized the crash was the coffee table splitting under the force of the two strange men collapsed in a heap on top of it. They were covered in dirt, and one of them — the brunet with eyes dark as midnight — was covering a deep gash over his abdomen. Blood seeped through the tattered cloth pressed to his skin. With each shallow breath in, they caught glimpses of exposed rib bones.

They obviously hadn't come in through the door, so there was only _one_ possible explanation.

" _Kazimierz!_ "

The angel appeared at his side instantly, that same guilty look now merged with panic. When he saw the chaos the living room had become, he seemed to shrink into himself even more.

The two strange men stared in astonished silence, flinching when Jon turned to look back at them. The brunet hissed as the motion pulled at his wound, making the redhead next to him frown in concern.

"Okay, so I'm pretty sure none of us understand what's happening here, but someone needs to address that guy's injury before he bleeds out on our floor?" Lionel finally spoke, placing a gentling hand on Xantham's knee. The former assassin still looked like he was about to launch himself at the intruders but calmed at the soft touch. "Kaz?"

Kazimierz nodded, walking over to the men with his hands raised in supplication. The other redhead's eyes snapped to him, narrowing suspiciously. He pulled the brunet closer, practically radiating protective anger.

Kazimierz knelt about a foot away from the men, voice trembling slightly as he murmured, "I know you two are really confused right now. There's a perfect explanation for why you're here right now. If you let me help him, I can tell you everything. He's not going to make it otherwise."

The man seemed to have an internal fight before sighing and loosening his hold. One hand went up to brush through the smaller man's messy brown hair.

"I'm a doctor," he started haltingly, "but I don't have any of my equipment with me. Do whatever you need to. I don't care, as long as Ethan is okay."

"Don't worry, I won't need any equipment." Kazimierz touched one hand to the brunet's still-bleeding side, eyes and hand glowing white. The other man barely stopped himself from jerking back in shock, eyes widening as he watched the wound pull closed on its own.

Once the gash fully closed, Kazimierz used a bit more power to clear the blood away, revealing clean, unblemished skin. Ethan sat up fully, running his fingers over the spot as he breathed out a single sentence, "What the fuck."

"I believe you owe us _all_ an explanation, Kazimierz," Jon commanded, finally moving to lean against the back of the armchair. "And this time, do _not_ lie."

Kazimierz nodded sullenly, helping the two strangers to their feet and directing them to the sofa. With a small burst of power, he reformed the coffee table and sat on top of it, keeping his gaze firmly on the floor.

"First things first: what are your names? This'll be easier to explain if I can address you directly."

"I'm Jesse, and I believe I already said this is Ethan," the other redhead replied. "Who are you, and where are we?"

"My name is Kazimierz. That's Jon, Lionel, and Xantham." Kazimierz pointed to each person in turn, pointedly not looking at Jon. "I believe...I accidentally pulled you from an alternate version of Earth."

Jesse was shaking his head before Kazimirez even finished his sentence, "No, that's...that's not possible. Look, we've seen some crazy shit in our lives, but this is just too much."

Kazimierz chuckled humorlessly, "Yeah, I know it sounds unbelievable. It's true, though."

"How?" Ethan asked simply.

"This is going to sound insane, but I'm an angel. We've been fighting a war against demons since the beginning of time. I've been on Earth in this vessel for over two centuries, and these humans are under my protection. In our army, I'm what humans would call a 'general,' but I've spent much of my life here as Xantham's guardian. Unfortunately, our rules are rather strict, and I recently overstepped my bounds. I was punished for my actions before these three convinced the angel in charge of my punishment that I should be absolved of guilt. The sentence was supposed to strip me of my powers and render me human — and more often than not, it ends up killing us. Jon stopped it before it could complete, so I retained my powers. However..."

Kazimierz paused, taking a deep, ragged breath. His eyes finally rose from the floor to meet Jon's, and the human's steely expression shifted into something pained. Kazimierz understood then that Jon knew _exactly_ what he had been doing in the room earlier. With a final sigh of resignation, Kazimierz stripped off his shirt and unfurled his wings. The gasps of startled amazement from their visitors did nothing to diminish Kazimierz's disgust as he looked at the mismatched feathers.

"The feathers...were they always that many colors?" Jesse asked hesitantly.

Kazimierz shook his head, "No, they weren't. The bottom two sets are supposed to alternate. Gold on the left and silver on the right, then silver on the left and gold on the right. Our wings are a sign of our power, so of course, the first thing that happens is that they're seared off. I lost all of the feathers on the bottom two wings—all except that one at the tip. The patches on the middle two are where the rest fell out. The only wings that weren't damaged were the top two. Hanna, the other angel, healed them to the best of her ability. The black feathers are the result of that."

"That sounds... _horrible_ , truly it does," Jesse began, confusion warring with horror in his voice, "but what does that have to do with us?"

Xantham was the one who spoke now, somehow even tenser by Lionel's side. Kazimierz couldn't tell if the expression on his face was supposed to be grief or anger. "He was trying to heal his wings again, just like he healed Ethan. But that doesn't make-"

"He wasn't trying to _heal_ them," Jon interrupted, fingers clenched on his thigh as if to keep himself from moving.

Kazimierz nodded, looking briefly over at his ward, "I wanted to fix them. I was distracted when Jon came into the bedroom and accidentally pulled Jesse and Ethan from their world to ours. To be honest, I don't know how I did it, and I don't know how to send you two back yet. I'll have to talk to Hanna when she's available; she'll know what to do. Until then, I just ask that you stay here and relax."

Jesse and Ethan shared a look that seemed to speak volumes in mere seconds, nodding and proclaiming in unison, "We can do that."

"We'll need some more clothes if you have them. And are we allowed to use your water for bathing?" Ethan added curiously.

Lionel hopped up from his seat, motioning to the two to follow him. "Of course, we have more than enough to share. You two are about the same size as Jon and I; I don't see why you wouldn't fit our clothes."

Jesse and Ethan followed incredulously, careful not to touch anything on the way to the bathroom. Once inside, they marveled at the readily available water and clean furnishings around them, barely catching Lionel's instructions.

"Left for cold, right for hot, and pull this chain up if you want to soak in the bath after you shower. I'll sit some towels and clothes outside the door for you. Let any of us know if you need anything else." Lionel paused right outside the door, looking back over his shoulder, "Kaz really is sorry. He didn't mean to pull you out of your universe. He's...been through a lot."

"Will he be okay? Your brother seemed very upset with him," Jesse inquired quietly.

Lionel shrugged helplessly, "It's not that he's mad at Kaz. He doesn't want Kaz to think he's anything but amazing, but his wings are a constant source of negativity for him. I feel the same way about Xantham and his scars. They don't make him lesser than—they prove how strong he is. I'll leave you to your shower."

* * *

The soft click of the door announced Lionel's departure. Jesse sighed worriedly and turned to the tub, carefully adjusting the water until it was the perfect temperature. Without another word, he stripped down and stepped into the spray, groaning in relief. Ethan joined him soon after, immediately shoving his head under the water and letting it wash the clumps of dirt and dried blood down the drain.

When the water ran clear, Ethan finally let himself relax, muscles loosening with the heat. He startled when damp fingers brushed across his side, blinking owlishly up at Jesse. The redhead was staring at the spot his wound had been, awe warring with fear in his eyes.

"Jess? What's wrong?" Ethan queried.

Jesse brushed his fingers over Ethan's ribs again, voice a near-whisper as he replied, "It's like you never got hurt in the first place; it's incredible. But I...I can still _see_ it, the blood, your _ribs_. If he hadn't been able to heal you..."

Ethan wrapped his arms around the taller man's waist when Jesse cut himself off with a harsh inhale, hands trembling despite the warmth surrounding them.

"I'm still here, Jesse. Yes, it was bad, and yes, we got lucky. But _I'm still here_. Focus on that, not what could've happened." The brunet pressed a feather-light kiss to Jesse's chest, directly over his heart. "We're in the safest place we can be right now."

Jesse nodded solemnly, taking a deep, fortifying breath. The smile he managed was shaky but genuine. Ethan pulled away with one last lingering kiss and grabbed the soap and a washcloth, holding both up. "Time to wash up, yeah? We probably won't get another chance like this."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon and Kazimierz finally have a talk.
> 
> ***TW: POTENTIAL SELF-HARM TRIGGER. UNINTENTIONAL MINOR INJURY TO SELF IS MENTIONED. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick notes:  
> Kazimierz - angel, current vessel early 30s, Jon’s lover, Xantham’s guardian  
> Jon - cop, mid-30s, Kaz’s lover, Lionel’s older brother  
> Lionel - private detective, early 30s, Xantham’s boyfriend, Jon’s younger brother  
> Xantham - former assassin, late 20s, Lionel’s boyfriend, Kaz’s ward  
> Jesse - doctor, early 30s, Ethan’s partner  
> Ethan - fighter, mid-20s, Jesse’s partner

When Lionel returned to the living room, it was to tense, uncomfortable silence. Kazimierz hadn't moved from his spot on the table, but his wings had been put away. Xantham had shifted from perching on the loveseat's arm to actually sitting on the cushion, knees drawn up to his chest as he frowned forlornly at his guardian.

Lionel started toward his lover when his eyes caught the movement of Jon's hands. His brother hadn't moved from his position behind the armchair, but he now had one hand wrapped around the opposite wrist. His nails repeatedly pressed into the thin skin, scraping almost methodically. Jon didn't seem to notice the small tears he was making on his own arm, glowering at the floor as he absorbed their last few minutes of conversation.

"Jon."

The brunet looked sharply up at the tone of Lionel's voice, fingers pausing for a second before continuing their scratching.

"You're doing it again," Lionel pointed out, nodding at Jon's hands.

That made Jon, Kazimierz, _and_ Xantham follow his gaze to the pink and red lines crisscrossing the underside of his forearm. Jon blinked in surprise at the marks, running the pads of his fingers over them and hissing at the slight pull of torn skin.

"What...why are you...?" Kazimierz seemed to find his voice, immediately going to Jon's side to inspect the scratches, "Why?"

"It's something he's done since we were children when he can't control his emotions," Lionel answered for his brother. He sat down next to Xantham, wrapping an arm around the blond. "It's not on purpose; he doesn't realize he's doing it until someone points it out. You two need to talk in private. We'll have a discussion later, but neither of you is in a good headspace right now, and that needs to be addressed."

Kazimierz hesitated and then looked back down at the scratches marring Jon's skin. Mind made up, he nodded and pulled the other man to their bedroom, closing the door. Jon hadn't spoken yet, too focused on the itch in his fingers and the storm of emotions in his head.

Kazimierz softly rubbed his fingers over the scratches, healing them. He continued to rub over the skin afterward with a sad frown.

"Did I make you do that?" he mumbled, voice shaking. "Is it because of what I said?"

Jon shook his head, going willingly when Kazimierz urged him to sit on the bed. The angel didn't release his arm the entire time, as if he knew Jon would automatically start scratching without an anchor.

"No, it's not your fault. I haven't...haven't done that in a while, but it's not your fault. I'm just trying to figure out what to do," Jon explained carefully, twisting his free hand into the sheets beneath him.

"Do about what?"

Jon simply flicked his eyes over the angel's shoulder, willing him to understand without words. When Kazimierz continued to stare, he caved and whispered, "Your wings."

The full-body flinch Kazimierz gave at the words broke Jon's heart.

"Wh-what...what about them?" the angel forced out on a trembling exhale, squeezing unconsciously around the arm in his grasp. At Jon's wince and grunt of pain, he relaxed his hold once again. "Oh, I'm sorry!"

Jon sighed in mingled relief and sorrow, raising his free hand to hover over the raised, gnarled scars on his angel's back. He didn't touch—knew touching would bring a world of unnecessary pain—but Kazimierz froze all the same, eyes wide in alarm. Jon's voice was barely audible when he spoke next, shivering out of him like it hurt to say the words.

"I thought...I thought you were okay after everything. I knew you weren't exactly happy with the way your wings looked, but I didn't think..." he took a shuddering breath before continuing, "...I didn't think you despised them that much. I don't know how to make you understand."

"What's there to understand, Jon? They're ugly, and all they do is remind me of how I _failed_."

Jon was taken aback by the venom in the angel's voice, unconsciously tugging at his captive arm as his free hand twitched violently beside his hip. The itch in his fingers grew to a painful burn, and it took him far longer than it should've to feel how he was starting to shake.

Kazimierz was no longer looking at him. His eyes had fallen to the floor, a dark glare marring his usually smiling face. He was so distracted by his self-loathing thoughts he didn't realize his hold on Jon had loosened.

"I can't...how..." Jon murmured brokenly, his own voice hoarse and thready. "You didn't..."

Kazimierz let loose a billowing sigh, "Black wings are a sign that an angel has fallen, Jon. It tells anyone who sees them that I'm _defective_. Why would I be happy or proud about them knowing that?"

"You. Are. _Not_. Defective." Jon finally managed to growl with a vehemence that surprised even him, "Every single thing you did was to _help us_. You saved Xantham, rescued Lionel. You protected _me_ , even when I was too blinded by my own pride to be grateful. Every black feather in your wings is proof that you would go to _any_ lengths to keep the ones you love safe, and I think you have every right to be proud of that. I'm sorry I can't make you see you the way I do. All I can do is assure you that no matter what your wings look like, angelic powers and status or not, I will _never_ stop loving you."

It took a few minutes, but eventually, Kazimierz lifted his eyes to meet Jon's. Something in Jon's expression must have convinced the angel of his absolute sincerity because those foggy ice blue eyes cleared in seconds. "You really believe that huh? I guess it'd be futile to argue with you over it. Thank you, Jon."

"For what?"

"For believing in me even when I lose faith in myself." Kazimierz finally smiled, linking his fingers with Jon's and kissing the back of his hand, "And I'm sorry for any distress I may have caused you."

Jon shook his head, "I'm okay."

"Are you really? The anxiety isn't going to just go away, is it?" Kazimierz lifted the hand he held, showing Jon the new, healing divots in his forearm. "Because you're still scratching."

"It's f..." Jon started hesitantly but stopped when he saw the worried scrunch of the angel's eyebrows. He took a deep breath, tucking his free hand under his thigh. "You were honest with me, so I'll be honest with you. I meant it when I said that your scars and wings prove that you love us, and you should be proud of them. I just…I also can't help but remember why they're there. If I had paid more attention…if I hadn't started that argument…maybe it wouldn't have happened at all."

"Or maybe it would've happened sooner," Kazimierz cut in, tilting Jon's face up to lock eyes. Though his words were firm, his voice was gentle, "And maybe we wouldn't have come out of it as relatively unscathed as we did. There's no way of knowing."

"Or maybe there is. If we hadn't..."

"Don't you _dare_."

Jon flinched at the hissed command, unconsciously squeezing Kazimierz's hand in his. The angel forced himself to relax, cupping Jon's cheek.

"I know exactly what you're thinking. I love you _so much_. I swear on all things good in this and the next world, if you say that we shouldn't have gotten together, I will smite you. Yes, I will have to get used to my wings as they are now. Yes, it will be a long, challenging process. Yes, I wish I could've told you everything before things got out of control."

At Jon's heartbroken whine, Kazimierz pulled the other man into a crushing hug, feeling strong arms wrap around his waist after a few moments.

"Despite all of that, I have never _once_ regretted getting involved in your life. You are the greatest gift this world could have given me, and I will not _ever_ let you go so long as you still want me. We have a lot to work through," Kazimierz murmured, pressing a kiss to Jon's temple, "but we can do that together. Okay?"

Several minutes passed in solemn silence, and Kazimierz feared the worst. Eventually, though, Jon managed a tiny nod against the redhead's shoulder, tightening his hold on his angel.

"Yeah," came the barely-audible whisper, "we can."


End file.
